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Jul 27, 2017

The Thursday Three

Three Kids Books to Read Before Their Movies Hit Theaters 

As book lovers, we have high expectations when it comes movies based on our favorite books.  Walking out of a movie theater after watching a book-to-movie adaptation often leads to conversations that start with, "Well, in the book they did it this way," or "They left out a whole scene!"  We think that every single scene, description, and conversation should be exactly the way it was in the book.  



There are, of course, exceptions to this, and we may love the movie more than we ever enjoyed the book.  (See The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, and Shrek)  These instances are few and far between.

Here are three upcoming movies based on children's books that we are looking forward to, even if we will continually compare them to the original source.


1. Wonderstruck



Movie release date: October 20, 2017

This 2011 novel by The Invention of Hugo Cabret author Brian Selznick is told in text and illustrations.  The text tells the story of Ben, a boy who ventures off in search of the father he has never known.  The pictures tell a story 50 years in the past of Rose, a girl so infatuated with an actress that she leaves a safe place in search of her.  Both stories are told simultaneously yet they are in symmetry with each other.  It will be interesting to see how the movie accomplishes the double storytelling.
Click here to see the movie trailer for Wonderstruck.



2.  Wonder



Movie release date: November 27, 2017


Auggie was born with a severe facial deformity and home schooled his entire life.  As he is starting fifth grade, Auggie will begin attending public school.  Auggie will find that it will be difficult to be just another kid in the school as he deals with classmates who cannot look past his physical appearance.  The story is told from different points of view so we are curious to see how that translates to the big screen. The novel inspired the Choose Kind anti-bullying campaign and there's no doubt that the movie will create even more awareness of the topic.



3.  A Wrinkle in Time




Movie release date: March 9, 2018

Hopefully this will be worth the wait!  A Wrinkle in Time was published in 1962 and author Madeleine L'Engle received the 1963 Newbery Medal for her "distinguished contribution to American literature for children."  The story revolves around Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and friend Calvin who set out on a space & time traveling mission to find Meg's missing father.  Looking forward to the larger-than-life characters of Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey).


Did we miss anything?  What are your favorite (or not so favorite) movies based on children's books?